Thursday, July 31, 2014

Inspiration Monet
Today we drove to Southold in search of a good restaurant for lunch. We passed Port of Egypt, which is a marina and also has a few restaurants and motels. We decided to stop at Allure, and found a table on the outside deck overlooking the water and boats.

I am wearing my hat from Rite Aid, vintage

green beads and vintage wood bracelet

which belonged to Richard's mother, Mildred.

It was a delightful al fresco lunch, a highlight of which was a watermelon, corn and feta salad. When we returned home, I continued to read and look at a fabulous book that I found in my landlady's library: Monet's Table - The Cooking Journals of Claude Monet.

The dining room at Giverny, Monet's home.

I love the yellow and blue motif.

The sun porch in our house was the ideal place to recline on the white wicker sofa and look at this book while dreaming of the beautiful food prepared in Monet's house. The farms and flowers of the North Fork offer a similar experience, but I will probably not tackle the recipes in the book although I may try Chicken in White Wine Sauce (Poulet à la périgourdine). It's simple enough.

Tuesday, July 29, 2014

David's Sculpture Garden
My brother David is a talented guy. He's an actor, singer and director. He also paints. And he make found-object sculptures. One of my first stops on the North Fork was his barn on Horton's Lane in Southold. The barn itself is chocked full of furniture, antiques, paintings, bric a brac and what-have- you. People love to stop by and walk through. Looking at all the stuff can produce a trance-like state.

But it's outside, in the fields next to the barn, where one can wander among David's unique, found-object sculptures and truly become mesmerized.

Monday, July 28, 2014

The Flower Thief
She started thinking about it on the first afternoon that she was in the village. What if I sneaked into a neighbor's backyard and cut some flowers from their Hydrangea bush. It did not look like anyone was home. But then, the people in these small villages all have eyes in the back of their heads. It would be inevitable that she would be seen. And there would be consequences. Maybe even the police called.

So she tamped down the idea, and thought, "I will just write a story about it. I will be a virtual flower thief."

On a hot July morning, after a storm had blown through in the early hours, and the breeze was still cooling, she took a walk through the village. "I will photograph the flowers and have a record of them for my story," she thought. Of course, all of this was just thinking. Just like the fantasy romance that her friend, Cordelia, was having in her head. A real romance was out of the question. Cordelia was married. But who could stop her from having a fantasy romance? Exactly no one.

The first flowers that attracted her were pink roses against a white fence along the bay. She liked the faded ones as much as the one in prime bloom.

She usually had to buy roses from a florist. These would make such a luxurious addition to her bouquet. "Let's see," she thought, "what was it that Cordelia told me she did this past weekend with X. Ah yes, they went sailing."

She knew a short cut to the beach. The tall grass was newly mowed. It was easy to walk that way and quite pleasurable.

Sunday, July 27, 2014

Barn Style, Vineyard Styleand Vintage Style
I apologize, I did not do a post yesterday as promised. But we were very busy buzzing around Southold and Greenport all day. Our first stop was my brother, David's, barn on Hortons Lane. We were lucky to find him playing chess with a friend. David is organizing the barn so that all the interesting things he has collected over time from his estate-sale business are well displayed and accessible to visitors. I found a few things that I liked which David graciously gave to me.

Des Autres

ABOUT ME

I'm an artist and milliner living in New York City. I study French, travel and adore la mode. I like to toss bons mots, maintain my credentials as a culture vulture and make ironic comments.
Photo by Ari Seth Cohen of Advanced Style.